ONE afternoon at Hasanuddin Airport, Makassar, in the middle of 1978. Two Japanese, who had just stepped down from a plane, seemed to be at a loss. Aksa Mahmud, who happened to be at the airport, addressed them in a friendly way. It turned out that they did not know where they would stay the night.

The young Aksa, who actually had something else to do, took them to a hotel and later on even accompanied them to dinner. Who would guess that the two